JP3504404B2 - Graphics display pointer with integrated selection - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to graphical pointing devices, such as cursor control devices that indicate a position on a display, and more particularly to pointing to and selecting a position on a display and displaying at such position. Icon or other indicator (indi
cia) such as a device that can operate the display image.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the computer and data processor field, it has traditionally been recognized that the ability of a user to receive and understand information in order to easily interact with the computer is of great importance in the use of the computer in many applications. It has been. The utility of advanced "computational power" to execute programs at ever-increasing speeds is diminished except for the few highly sophisticated and complex programs. These programs require little interaction with the user if the result is not readily understandable to the user and therefore unresponsive. Therefore, dedicating a significant portion of the available computing power to user interfaces has become widely accepted, both in hardware and software in the data processing field. Nowadays, in particular, the user manipulation of the displayed graphics image provides a particularly suitable medium both in terms of communicating information including the execution status of the processor and program to the user, and in inputting user control information and data. became.

The input of control signals and data via a graphic display medium requires the use of a device to specify a position on the display, as well as another mechanism for selection. This latter requirement requires positional feedback to the user, such as by displaying a cursor or icon, so that the operator can control the position specification without having to enter data or perform control until the position is specified correctly. Due to sex. Traditionally, this is for example a mouse,
Light pen, trackball (essentially an inverted mouse that does not need to be moved on the desk), gimbal type (gimbal
Achieved by a variety of known and widely used devices, such as led and isometric joysticks, and many special purpose configurations for people with disabilities. Hereinafter, these will be generically referred to as a graphic input device. Typically, these devices include one or more buttons (eg, the well-known 1, 2, or 3 button mouse) or switches that allow the position on the display to be correctly specified to the user's satisfaction. Then, the control function becomes effective. Occasionally, a mechanism, such as a treadle switch, is used that is completely separate from the device used to specify position on the display. In either case, both types of control (ie location and selection) must be provided.

Recently, there has been a trend towards incorporating ergonomics and "human engineering" as well as the trend towards smaller and more portable devices so that data processing devices are more familiar to users. A major problem with miniaturization is the size of input devices such as keyboards, and reducing size makes these devices unacceptable. This demand for small input mechanisms has led to the development of so-called pen computers, where data is entered by an action similar to writing on the paper of a notebook. A trackball device was also developed for the same reason. The trackball device is contained within the housing of the portable computer and does not require a separate surface for user operation. Most recently, equiangular joysticks have come on the market that do not move much but control the movement of the cursor depending on the force applied. It is a joystick that moves along three equal axes that are orthogonal to each other.

Regardless of the degree of miniaturization possible, the need for separate means to provide the separate functions described above requires a separate space consistent with the physical size of the user. Therefore, miniaturization is limited by this practical limitation independent of the design features of the data processing device. The only alternative to providing separate controls is to combine the functionality of the device to sense user actions. But,
Such a combination makes it difficult to separate the functions.

For example, if a pressure or force sensor is included in a stylus-like position control device, such as a light pen or joystick, the change in force during normal movement on the display may be such that an independent sensor is the other sensor. Even if placed on an axis that is orthogonal to, often results in unintended selection. Conversely, a user action that changes the force exerted on the display usually results in a small but often significant change in the designated position.
These problems are commonly associated with the fact that the stylus is often not held naturally or satisfactorily in a position whose axis is perpendicular to the display. For example, Garwin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,313 discloses a correction technique in a light pen or touch screen where position errors result from pen lifting in directions not exactly orthogonal to the display screen (only at selection). This latter issue is due to known gimbal joysticks (which are likely not in a neutral or "vertical" position when positioned) or a mouse whose natural stroke of the finger on the button is not perpendicular to the plane of movement. (In order for the user to feel the movement stroke of the button naturally,
Is inclined).

It has been found that these problems in the actual use of graphic input devices are difficult to deal with, especially as the degree of miniaturization increases. Further, attempts to enable or enhance functional separation by force sensing, with or without electronic processing of the transducer output, have met with little success. The reason may be, at least in part, the difference in force exerted by different users during normal operation of the device,
Or it may be a change in the nature of the action by one user. For example, the amount of force exerted by the user on the stylus can vary significantly due to stress. That is, when position tracking does not work well, it is a natural reaction to strongly press the stylus against the display, even if the cause is too much force.

All electronic processing of signals from transducers in graphic input devices conventionally attempted to detect selection involves the selection of a user-specified position during a selection period in a common display operation such as "dragging" an object. It was also complicated by the need to sense change. During such operations, the signal from the transducer will necessarily change due to operator operation for position input. These signal changes complicate the detection of selection and deselection. In addition, the force exerted by the operator on the stylus or selection button remains relatively high while changing rapidly over a wide range (eg due to the irregularity of the surface on which the pointing device is moved or by the position input by the user). As an incidental result of the change). Therefore, such operations have been difficult without the provision of separate selection and position input mechanisms.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a "selection push" in a graphic input device that integrates a position input function and a selection input function.
Is to provide a reliable method and apparatus for detecting.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for specifying and selecting a position on a graphic input device without the selection function disturbing the specified position.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for automatically canceling unintentional effects in the operation of a graphic input device by a user.

[0012] Yet another object of the present invention is to enable the change of position selection at the time of selection such as dragging of an object on the display, and further to achieve the above object.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for reliably separating both the position specification function and the selection function in a graphic input device that uses a common transducer. .

[0014]

In order to achieve these objects of the invention, there are provided: a) a cursor control circuit; and b) corresponding to forces applied in any direction of the three orthogonal axes of a graphic input device. Generating at least two of the first, second and third signals and generating at least two of the first, second and third signals.
One for supplying one to the cursor control circuit, c) a buffer for storing at least one of the first, second and third signals, and d) at least one of the first, second and third signals. A first comparator for providing a first output and comparing a rate of change of the amplitude of at least one of the first, second and third signals with a reference value, and a second comparator A second comparator for providing an output of the cursor and a comparator mechanism including, in response to the first and second comparators, a mechanism for supplying a modified value based on the value stored in the buffer to the cursor control circuit. A graphic input device including is provided.

According to another aspect of the invention, storing a sample of the output of the graphic input device, identifying the occurrence of selection and deselection of positions by the graphic input device, and the occurrence of selection and deselection. Generating a modification to the output of the graphic input device based on a stored sample of the output of the graphic input device surrounding the image display device.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a transducer circuit including a signal processing circuit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The transducer mechanism is preferably implemented as a group of four strain gauges attached to the sides of an upright rectangular prism 28 of somewhat flexible material, including 11E, 11W pairs and 11N,
11S pairs are included. The rectangular prism 28 is attached to the base 27 to form a small joystick as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2 and the perspective view of FIG. The material should preferably feel stiff, so that the user hardly feels any movement when exerting force on it, but
It must flex sufficiently to produce a specific strain on the strain gauge with normal levels of force. This structure is useful and suitable for commercially available conformal joysticks, commonly referred to as "pointing sticks". However, the transducers and their mechanical construction are not critical to the realization of the invention and the construction shown in FIG. 2 has been referred to by way of example only.

The strain gauges themselves preferably consist of the known metal foil types sold by several manufacturers. The application of force to the strain gauges causes a dimensional change in the conduction path, which, as is known, causes the resistance of each strain gauge to change in a highly predictable manner. In the configuration shown in FIG.
The force applied in the direction of 9 reduces the resistance of the transducer 11N due to compression, and the resistance of the transducer 11S connected in series increases by approximately the same amount due to the tension. Therefore, the series resistance of this transducer pair remains approximately constant and the voltage at node Y increases. Also, a force applied orthogonal to direction 29 (but in the direction of the plane of the paper) will produce a similar result, affecting transducers 11E and 11W and changing the voltage at node X. Therefore, any force vector in the plane of the paper of FIG. 2 is detected by the differential effect of the strain gauges, in which case the partial pressure action produces a signal corresponding to each pair of strain gauges.

An important aspect of the invention is that as long as the force applied to shaft 28 is maintained substantially within the plane of the paper of FIG.
The total series resistance of each pair of strain gauges (eg, 11N, 11S) is kept substantially constant. Therefore, the voltage divider formed by resistor 12 and the transducer pair is substantially unaffected.

However, any relative force component applied to the shaft 28 perpendicular to the plane of the paper will apply a compressive force component to all four transducers 11N, 11S, 11E, 11W and change their resistance (eg, decrease). ), Causing a dimensional change in all these transducers. Therefore, the voltage at node Z is changed by the voltage divider formed by the strain gauge pair and resistor 12.

Referring to FIG. 1, a signal indicative of the relative force components applied to the shaft 28 (whether analog or digital, and regardless of the transducer used) has a plurality of nodes X, Y and Z. It is preferably derived as the ratio of the signals at. That is, the force component in the paper is derived from the ratio between the signal value at node X or Y and the signal value at node Z. The force component perpendicular to the plane of the drawing is derived from the ratio between the signal value at node Z and Vcc. In other words, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the signal value at the node Z is used as a reference voltage for generating a signal that reflects the force vector in the paper, and Vcc is perpendicular to the paper (hereinafter referred to as the Z direction). It is used as a reference voltage to generate a signal that reflects the different forces. Also, to improve noise immunity, preferably a multi-channel analog-to-digital (A / D) converter 13 of any known type is used.
Is used. The A / D converter 13 is also preferably gated by the sample clock 17 and provides a synchronized set of force vector output signals x, y and z.

By the way, the change in the signal from the strain gauge is very small, and as is known to those skilled in the art, a large amplification factor (for example, 500 times) is generally required before A / D conversion. This amount of gain means that the calibration reference voltage source should be used with other precautions against electrical noise.

The x and y force vector signals are then provided to the cursor control circuit 24 via the switching circuit 15. Here, the details of the cursor control circuit are not important to the invention. According to the established protocol, the cursor control circuit 24 converts the x, y and s (selection) signals into movement messages and conveys them to the CPU 25. The usual source of signal s is a switch, such as a mouse button, which when pressed indicates selection. For the force vector signals x and y, and preferably also z, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, they are provided and temporarily stored in a buffer 14 of a suitable length (eg about 50 samples). It The buffer 14 is synchronized with the sample clock 17 and provides a first-in first-out function for the x, y, z force vector signals. The buffer 14 is processed by the scan control circuit 40, which is activated by the trigger circuit 22 as described below. The result of this processing is provided to switching circuit 15, which is activated by scan control circuit 40.

The threshold circuit according to the invention receives the z force component signals from the A / D converter 13 and performs signal processing on them. In signal processing, as described above, the selection signal (the force applied to the shaft 28 orthogonal to the force for controlling the cursor position) is intentionally increased from normal and unintentional changes during operation of the graphic input device. Generated by the buffer 14
In combination with provide a position correction of the position specified at the start of the selection and adjust the dragging action by the user.

More specifically, the intended choice is comparator 1
At 9, 19 ', both the amplitude of the z signal and the rate of change of amplitude (derived by the differential circuit 18) are identified by comparison with a plurality of reference signals (collectively denoted by Vref). Originally, this function makes a large and rapid change in z value when operating the pointing device.
It is usually the function of the filter to discern from the small changes encountered. The reference signal is also not shown in FIG. 1, but is adaptively modified by sample storage according to many known techniques, as well as filtering. The comparators 19, 19 'are preferably (in the simplest case) arranged to provide a logic level output depending on whether the input is above or below a threshold.

Referring to FIG. 3, typical values of z and the rate of change of z over time (dz / dt) are shown as a function of time. The value of z is shown to have a varying positive value, indicating the normal force applied by the user in the z direction and its changes during normal operation of the graphic input device. The time rate of change also changes according to the change of z,
It fluctuates at a relatively low level around the zero mean value.

Here, the operator has successfully designated the position by means of a cursor or other display index such as an icon,
Suppose that one wishes to make a selection by applying another force to the graphic input device in the z direction. As shown, these forces produce sharp rises in both z and dz / dt. Both of these values are the respective threshold values 31
, And 32, the outputs of the comparators 19, 19 'exhibit the same logical value, which is detected by the coincidence circuit shown as AND circuit 21. The output of the AND circuit 21 is provided to the toggle circuit 22 such as a set / reset flip-flop. This circuit inherently maintains the last positively driven state. The form of this matching circuit is not critical to the realization of the invention.

Similarly, the outputs of the comparators 19 'and 19''are
AND having an inverting input for receiving the output of the comparator 19 '
Gate 21 'is coupled as shown. The comparator 19 '' outputs a negative threshold value 33 shown in FIG.
to the dt signal. Therefore, the AND gate 21 'provides a logic output that resets the toggle circuit 22 when z decreases rapidly below the threshold (dz / dt is negative), as shown on the right side of time b in FIG. Generated, which means the intentional release of the force component in the z direction applied by the user to the graphic input device.

The output of toggle circuit 22 is communicated to scanning circuit 40 to indicate that a user selection has been identified.
However, as mentioned above, the application or release of forces to the graphic input device always causes unintended movements, which are reflected in the x and y signals.

The determination of the occurrence of the selection causing the toggle circuit 22 to set occurs at some point after the user initiates the selection action, at which time the z signal begins to rise. During that time, since many motion messages x ′, y ′ are transmitted to the CPU 25 via the cursor control device 24,
The cursor may be moved to a position different from the position intended for position selection by initiating an increase in force in the Z direction. It should be noted that x ′ and y ′ are relative motion signals (eg, multiple increments in either or both coordinate directions) and the cursor control circuit 24 does not have position information at any time. Therefore, any corrective action is limited to detecting and reporting a message that discards a specified time when the selection occurred, or an exercise that has occurred since the selection, as well as a selection after the corrective discarding of that exercise. In the latter case, CPU actions resulting from motion messages during detection of selection cannot be discarded. For example, if the cursor is on the edge of the screen or window, the motion message is ignored and discarding the motion message sent to the CPU will result in a position error. However, this situation is fairly rare and may be allowed to allow the present invention to work with standard mouse drivers. The former case is less likely to generate these errors but implies the need for a special mouse driver. The circuit of FIG. 1 is compliant with both of the above cases or a combination thereof, depending on the behavior of the scan control circuit 40, as will be described below.

It should be noted here that the corrective action is similarly executed upon detection of deselection. As long as the user maintains an increasing force in the Z direction of the graphic input device, the toggle circuit 22 will remain set and until the toggle circuit 22 is reset in response to a sudden decrease in the Z direction force. The selection signal is continuously provided to the cursor control circuit 24.

At a high level, the function of scan control circuit 40 is such that the point in the x, y, z signal sample sequence stored in buffer 14 at which a user action occurred (which changes the state of toggle circuit 22). Control) the generation of signals x, y and s that identify the (as they occur) and discard the unintended movements associated with that action. To accomplish this, each time scan control circuit 40 is activated by a change in the state of toggle circuit 22, the scan control circuit scans the contents of buffer 14 to initiate an abrupt change in the z signal (eg, dz / The onset of the rising edge of dt) is identified and the movements occurring after that time are summed. This is easily accomplished, for example, by simply scanning backwards and outputting the corresponding x and y signals until a relatively stable low value of z is found. Alternatively, the motion signal may be accumulated in the scan control circuit 40 to generate a corrected motion signal for the net. These stable low values of z are found, corrective motion signals are generated, and when these signals are transmitted to the cursor control circuit 24 via the switching circuit 14, a select signal is generated and via the cursor control circuit 24. It is transmitted to the CPU 25.

Alternatively, the cursor control circuit 24 or CPU
25 is configured to temporarily store the time stamp corresponding to each cursor movement command,
To perform the appropriate corrective action, scan control circuit 22 simply determines the selection time and provides that information to CPU 25. In this case, the buffer 14 need not contain the x and y sample values, but the equivalent motion command storage along with the time stamp will result in cursor control circuitry 24.
Alternatively, it is provided in the CPU 25. Once the selection or deselection start time is determined, the modified position is found by placing the cursor position at the corresponding time.
In either case, the start of the selection is determined by a comparison process or other process that scans the z value samples in buffer 14 and detects a stable low z value as described above. Having described several suitable techniques for determining the correct cursor position, one of ordinary skill in the art will find other suitable techniques in view of this description of the invention. Therefore, the above technique is not a limitation of the present invention, but merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. For example stable z
Instead of a value, the starting point of the steep increase in z-force could be used and this could be identified as the intersection of lines of clearly different slopes approximating adjacent sections of the z-value vs. time plot.

The above-described configuration of the threshold circuit 20 is an example, and in order to achieve the function of sensing both the amplitude and the amplitude change of the force applied in the Z direction and comparing the sense value with the threshold value, Various modifications and different signal processing circuits can be used. Further identification of intentional changes in force in the Z direction is not performed until the z signal reaches a predetermined amplitude and the slow increase in force overrides the above identification. For this reason, it is desirable to add more comparators that only sense the Z-direction force at higher thresholds. Further, the time at which the identification is made depends on the rate of increase of the force exerted by the operator, so the buffer has a sufficient number of stages to contain the samples over the entire range of time periods attributable to the identification of the selection by the user. I have to ask.

In view of the above description, it is possible to omit another sensor or switch for selection, while ensuring the separation of the position designating function and the selection function, as well as the designation during selection and deselection. It will be appreciated that a configuration is provided that provides for correction of unintentional changes in position. This configuration and method fully supports image manipulation functions, including changing the specified cursor position during selection, such as "dragging".

Although the present invention has been described in terms of one preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of various modifications within its spirit and scope.

As a summary, the following matters will be disclosed regarding the configuration of the present invention.

(1) Cursor control means and first, second and third signals respectively corresponding to forces applied in arbitrary directions of the three orthogonal axes of the graphic input device,
Means for supplying at least two of the first, second and third signals to the cursor control means, and storage means for storing at least one of the first, second and third signals,
Filter means for identifying motion corresponding to the selection in response to at least one of the first, second and third signals;
Positioning the cursor at the location where it was located at the beginning of the movement corresponding to the selection in response to at least one of the first, second and third signals stored in the storage means. A means for generating a modification signal, and a graphic input mechanism. (2) the filter means compares the at least one amplitude of the first, second and third signals with a reference value and provides a first output; and a first comparing means; Second
And a second comparing means for comparing the rate of change of the at least one amplitude of the third signal with a reference value and providing a second output, and in response to the first and second comparing means. The graphic input mechanism according to (1), further comprising: a comparison unit including a correction value based on the value stored in the storage unit, and a unit that supplies the correction value to the cursor control unit. (3) The graphic input mechanism according to (2), further including a toggle circuit responsive to the comparison means. (4) The graphic input mechanism according to (3), further including means for detecting a change in the output of the toggle circuit and controlling the correction value supply means when the output of the toggle circuit changes. (5) The second comparing means detects the first threshold value means for detecting when the rate of change of the amplitude exceeds a certain positive value, and the first threshold means for detecting the time of the rate of change of the amplitude being less than a certain negative value. Second to detect
The threshold input means, and the graphic input mechanism according to (2) or (4) above. (6) The toggle circuit is set in response to the first comparison means and the first threshold means, and reset in response to the first comparison means and the second threshold means. The graphic input mechanism according to (5) above. (7) The graphic input mechanism according to (2), (4), (5) or (6), wherein the graphic input means is a conformal joystick. (8) A method of controlling an image on a display, comprising storing a sample of the output of a graphic input device; identifying the occurrence of position selection and deselection by the graphic input device; Generating a modification to the output of the graphic input device based on the stored sample of the output of the graphic input device surrounding the occurrence of deselection. (9) The identifying step includes a step of comparing an output of the graphic input device with a first threshold value, and a step of comparing an output change rate of the graphic input device with at least a second threshold value. The method according to (8) above. (10) The method according to (9), wherein the identifying step includes a step of comparing the output change rate of the graphic input device with at least a third threshold value. (11) In response to the comparing step of comparing the output change rate of the graphic input device with the second threshold value, setting a toggle; and setting the output change rate of the graphic input device to the first change rate. Resetting a toggle in response to the comparing step of comparing with a threshold of 3. (12) The method according to (11), wherein the identifying step detects at least one of the set and the reset of the toggle. (13) The method according to (8) above, including a step of supplying a selection signal to the data processing means during a period from the identification of selection to the identification of deselection. (14) A method according to (8), including the step of providing at least one output of the graphic input device to a data processing means during the occurrence of a selection and the occurrence of a deselection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a general transducer and a signal processing circuit preferably used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view of a graphic input device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating signal processing performed on a transducer output signal by the general circuit of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 A / D converter 14 buffers 15 Switching circuit 17 sample clocks 18 Differential circuit 19, 19 ', 19 "comparator 20 threshold circuit 21 AND circuit 21 'AND gate 22 Trigger circuit 24 Cursor control circuit 25 CPU 27 base 28 shaft 29 arrows 31, 32 threshold 40 Scan control circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Edwin Joseph Selker Matadero Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA 738 (56) Reference JP-A-6-282369 (JP, A) JP-A-63 -170726 (JP, A) JP-A-7-129316 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/03-3/037

Claims (14)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cursor control means and first, second and third signals respectively corresponding to forces applied in arbitrary directions of three orthogonal axes of a graphic input device are generated, and a position of a cursor is designated. Means for supplying at least two of the first, second and third signals to the cursor control means, and storage means for storing at least one of the first, second and third signals, Filter means for identifying a motion corresponding to the selection in response to at least one of the first, second and third signals; and the storing means for storing when the motion corresponding to the selection is identified. Responsive to at least one of the stored first, second and third signals, generating a correction signal for positioning the cursor at the location where the cursor was located at the beginning of the movement corresponding to the selection. Hand A graphic input mechanism, including columns and. 2. The first comparing means for comparing the amplitudes of the at least one of the first, second and third signals with a reference value and providing a first output, the filter means, Second comparing means for comparing the rate of change of the at least one amplitude of the first, second and third signals with a reference value and providing a second output; and responding to the first and second comparing means 2. The graphic input mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising: a comparing unit including: a unit that supplies a correction value based on the value stored in the storage unit to the cursor control unit. 3. The graphic input mechanism of claim 2, including a toggle circuit responsive to said comparing means. 4. A means for detecting a change in the output of the toggle circuit, and controlling the means for supplying the correction value to the cursor control means when the output of the toggle circuit changes. The described graphic input mechanism. 5. The first comparing means detects the time when the rate of change of the amplitude exceeds a certain positive value, and the rate of change of the amplitude is less than a certain negative value. 5. A graphic input mechanism according to claim 2 or 4, including second threshold means for detecting time. 6. The toggle circuit is set in response to the first comparing means and the first threshold means and in response to the first comparing means and the second threshold means. The graphic input mechanism of claim 5, wherein the graphic input mechanism is reset. 7. The graphic input mechanism according to claim 2, 4, 5 or 6, wherein said graphic input means is a conformal joystick. 8. A method of controlling an image on a display, storing a sample of the output of a graphic input device, identifying the occurrence of position selection and deselection by the graphic input device, When the occurrence of the selection is identified, the start of the selection is determined based on the stored sample.
Modifying the output of the graphic input device to that of the starting time. 9. The identifying step includes comparing an output of the graphic input device with a first threshold value, and comparing an output change rate of the graphic input device with at least a second threshold value. 9. The method of claim 8, comprising: 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying step includes comparing the rate of change of output of the graphic input device with at least a third threshold value. 11. A step of setting a toggle in response to the comparing step of comparing the output change rate of the graphic input device with the second threshold value, the output change rate of the graphic input device being set. The third
11. The method of claim 10, comprising resetting a toggle in response to the comparing step of comparing with a threshold of. 12. The identifying step detects at least one of the set and the reset of the toggle,
The method according to claim 11. 13. The method of claim 8 including the step of providing a selection signal to the data processing means during the period from identifying the selection to identifying the deselection. 14. The method of claim 8 including the step of providing at least one output of said graphic input device to a data processing means during the occurrence of a selection and the occurrence of a deselection.